A SKIP hire boss was involved in a fatal road crash just hours before his son was killed in a separate accident. David Gallagher, from Gilmerton, was driving a skip lorry which was hit by a motorcyclist on Lasswade Road, on Saturday morning.

A friend said he had been left "shattered" by the experience – only to later learn that evening the devastating news that his 26-year-old son had been killed in an off-road vehicle accident. Mr Gallagher, of Gilmerton-based BWS skip hire, was delivering a skip to a property near the slip road to the City Bypass, at around 9.10am when the first accident happened.

The motorcyclist Keith Henderson, 49, from Bonnyrigg, was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary but died shortly after from his injuries.

Then at around 7.15pm, the emergency services were called to Winchburgh Shale Bing, 200 metres east of the B8020 in West Lothian, to deal with a man who had crashed his Land Rover into a tree.It later emerged the man was Mr Gallagher's son, Barry Edmiston, who is understood to have young children. He succumbed to his injuries at the scene.Firefighters were said to have had trouble recovering the vehicle immediately, because of the rough terrain it had been travelling on.

The family friend said: "Davey is a fantastic guy, a real diamond. He does everything he can for people and he would take bullets for his son if he had to."He's very family orientated." We've heard that the guy on the motorbike was also a really nice guy. The whole thing is just absolutely unbelievable."

Neighbours and friends have been offering their condolences to Mr Gallagher, his wife and family since the accident.